Well forgive me, I don't see anything wrong with wondering out loud why a lot of people do something a particular way. I don't think that makes me "anal"!

This is the first 4 shaft loom I've owned, the others have all been 8 shaft countermarch, and it was a different setup to deal with. As it happens, this one arrived with the plain-weaves both on the right, and I was asking because when using my 8 shaft looms, I'd always found it more efficient to be using both feet more of the time (and less strain on the hips too) so I had my plain-weaves on either side, and my twills (I'm a big twill fan) in the middle.

I like the point that when weaving where you alternate between both, a different tie-up is more efficient - I'm just getting the loom set up so I can get on with some twill right now, so I'll stick with what I'm used to, which is:

Thanks Mike - I've been thinking about the Guild Diploma course (since I didn't get on the Handweavers one). I think I'll arrive in Devon and get set up first, but I'm going to read up about the course, and good teachers nearby are useful to know about.